Right in Front of Your Face
by Gothic Melting Icecream
Summary: Yami has been in love with Kaiba for a long time and had finally gathered up the courage to tell him. But life isn't a fairy tale and things don't always go the way people want them to. Soon after, Yami goes missing leaving no clue as to his whereabouts
1. Chapter 1

Right, so I adopted this plot demon from Elektra and here's the story.

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Pairing: Darkshipping

Warnings: Language and violence

Summary: Yami's been in love with Kaiba for some time now and Yugi has finally convinced him to tell him. But things don't go as planned with Kaiba, and soon after that Yami goes missing!

* * *

"Alright, that's the seventh time you've sighed in less than a minute. Just stop feeling sorry for yourself." 

"Sorry aibou." Yami turned back to the action movie that was playing on the TV, staring listlessly at it, not really watching it. Yugi turned back to the TV as well thinking that that was the end of it.

Yami sighed again.

Yugi growled and switched off the TV, then stomped over to his other. He stood in front of him, fists planted firmly on his hips, an intense expression on his face. Yami was so out of that he actually didn't notice that his view of the film was being blocked. When he did, he slowly looked upwards and eventually locked eyes with fierce amethyst ones. "Just what on Earth is your problem?" Yami opened his mouth to answer but Yugi cut him off, "I don't know why you're so upset about Kaiba not knowing how you feel. He won't know unless you tell him."

"You _know_ aibou that I cannot tell him. He isn't exactly a good friend of mine; we're mere acquaintances at best. Telling him could cause him to hate me forever."

Amethyst eyes softened, "But if you never tell him you could be missing out on years of happiness. You don't know for sure that he hates you. 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained'?"

Yami ran his hands roughly through his hair and let out another sigh. "That maybe true but that is far too great a risk. I can't–"

"Life is a risk, Yami!" Yugi exploded. He immediately looked apologetic, "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you but I hate seeing you so miserable. And I can feel it in here." He held his hand over his heart. "I just want you to be happy Yami." Yami smiled at his aibou, but the gesture was tainted by such sadness that Yugi felt tears spring to his eyes from the desolation swimming in his other's eyes. He moved forwards suddenly to give Yami a hug, as if trying to take the misery away through touch alone. Yami held him close, then after some time, began to speak.

"I know how much this affects you aibou, and I don't mean to make you sad. Tomorrow I will _try_ and tell Kaiba, okay?" Yugi's eyes lit up and Yami felt a wave of elation travel down the link and wash over him. Just feeling that made him think that going through it was all worthwhile.

"That's all I can ask Yami, that's all I can ask."

xXx

Yami fought the wave of consciousness that was threatening to wake him up; he really didn't want to get up as yet and face the world. He pulled Yugi closer and snuggled down deeper into the duvet. He tried to go back to sleep, but forcing it to return was counter-productive and it just pushed him closer to awareness. All too soon he had to admit defeat and open his eyes. Just one glance out of the window gave him a feeling that it wasn't going to be his day. It was dull and grey outside, with stormy clouds churning, hovering ominously ahead, and threatening the day with a torrential downpour.

Yami sighed (he seemed to be doing that a lot lately) and kicked off the duvet. He slid himself out from his aibou's arms and tucked the duvet back firmly around him. Despite his sombre mood, a tiny smile curled his lips upwards as he watched Yugi let out a small groan, before pulling the pillow that Yami was previously resting on into his arms. He buried his face into it, and then he smiled and let out a sigh of contentment. Yami moved quickly and quietly out of the room and made his way to the bathroom.

He came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped firmly around his waist, a plume of steam escaping after him. He re-entered the bedroom, smiling when he saw that Yugi was still fast asleep. He went over to the wardrobe, one hand holding onto the towel around his waist, the other rummaging through the contents of the wardrobe for his favourite pair of blood red leather pants. He pulled them out with a cry of triumph and dropped the towel. He didn't bother put on any boxers, knowing that they would show under the leather and instead pulled them straight on. He did up the zip at the side and once again dove back into the recesses of the wardrobe, this time searching for his favourite black mesh top. He knew that if he was going to tell Kaiba today he'd all the confidence that his favourite outfit would provide.

He sat back on his knees, puzzled. His top should have been in there but it was now AWOL and he _needed_ that top. He heard a groan come from his aibou's direction and finally it clicked. He knew where his top was; he'd lent it to Yugi when he went out to a nightclub for the first time last week. He got up off the floor and went down the hallway towards where all the clean clothes were. He dug into the bag, throwing clothes over his shoulder, leaving them to land where they would. He finally found his top and was about to put it on when he caught sight of the HUGE slash down the front of it. He let a growl and threw the top roughly to the side as he dropped to his knees and shoved the clothes back into the basket. He stormed back to the bedroom, knowing somewhere in the back of his mind that he was being stupid; after all it was only a top. But it felt like his confidence had disappeared with the top. Which was ridiculous, because it was just a top. But still…

He headed straight for the wardrobe, this time intent on finding his black tank top. He grabbed it and put it on then went downstairs for breakfast. He poured himself some Frosties and milk and sat down on the sofa to pass the time watching Saturday morning TV.

xXx

_Yami? _a drowsy voice whispered in his mind. He smiled, glad that his aibou was finally awake so he would have some company.

_I'm downstairs aibou, in the living room._ he sent back as he picked up the remote and flicked through the stations to find some more cartoons. Suddenly he heard a thud followed by a deep snore. He looked over his shoulder to see Yugi sitting on the bottom step, slumped against the wall eyes shut in sleep. Yami laughed and sent his amusement along the link as he got to his feet and stretched. He made his way over and knelt in front of him.

"Yugi," he whispered, laughter evident in his voice.

A groan was his answer.

"Yugi,"

A hand swatted the air by his face. "Go 'way, don' wanna get up."

He leaned in close, right by his ear and took a deep breath. "YUGI!"

His eyes flew open as he sat up abruptly. "Wah! 'm up! I'm 'wake." He slumped back against the wall and his eyes closed again. A deep snore reverberated through the room. Yami rolled his eyes.

"C'mon," he grabbed Yugi by the arms and pulled him to his feet. "Time to get up aibou."

"Fine, fine ruin my fun," he pouted, "Just because you're awake doesn't mean that you have to drag me along to suffer with you."

"Stop moaning. Maybe if I get some sugar in you, you'll be able to keep your eyes open."

xXx

"So Yami…do you want me to go with you when you go and see Kaiba." Yugi regretted the question as soon as it left his mouth when he saw his yami's shoulder's slump and his whole person seemed to deflate. He hated to upset him when they were having so much fun but he wanted to know what Yami intended to do and he needed to remind him as well. His yami was good at pretending and he knew that he would act as if everything was alright.

"No, no I wouldn't want you to be there when – _if_ I get rejected. Do not worry; I tell you all that there is to tell when I return tonight." Yugi just nodded, and then he got up off his stool and made his way over to Yami and hugged him. Strong arms wrapped around his waist tightly and a wave of emotion crashed over him from his yami. The fear he felt from him made Yugi clench his eyes shut; he couldn't believe that his Yami, known for his fear of nothing, was absolutely terrified about his meeting with Kaiba. He tried desperately to send his love through the link, to combat the fear that he sensed, and he managed, just a little bit, to calm his fears.

This was the biggest risk that he'd ever taken. Sure there was danger in every threat that they faced; every time someone had come along and threatened him or his friends. But Yami knew that although there was the chance that he could fail them, he was doing what he did best. He was in his comfort zone and the outcome of the conflict depended on him – _he_ controlled whether he won or lost, _not_ anyone else.

This time, Kaiba that held his heart in the palm of his hand and he didn't even know that he could crush it at any time.

But he was going to change that today.

He was deliberately putting himself in a position which could cause him great suffering, which went against every instinct in his body, that was against his very nature to do so.

Remind him, why was he doing this again?

Oh yeah, he was putting himself through this for his aibou. After all, he was quite happy to go through life never knowing whether Kaiba felt the same way or not, quite happy to hang onto his delusions that there was a slight chance that maybe Kaiba loved him.

He sighed.

"Come on aibou, it's time for me to leave." They walked to the door and Yugi gave him one last hug before he opened it. Yami took one look outside and shut the door again.

"I don't like the look of that sky; I'll take an umbrella and a jacket." He grabbed his black leather jacket from the coat pegs by the door and put it on while he waited for his aibou, who'd dashed upstairs to get an umbrella.

"Here," he handed him the black umbrella. "Make sure you come straight home or if not at least contact me," he tapped the side of his head, "to let me know what happened. Okay?"

Yami nodded, "Bye Yugi,"

He started on his way to Kaiba's mansion, deciding to walk thereso he couldget his head in order and plan what he was going to say to Kaiba. A drop of water landed on his nose, which seemed to be the signal for the heavens to open up. He hurriedly got his umbrella up and carried on his way to the mansion.

When he reached the gates, he paused, gathering his strength and his confidence, then he pressed the intercom.

"Who is it?" a deep voice demanded.

"Err…Yami Mouto to see Mr.Kaiba." There was a buzz andthen the gates swung open. He made his way up the drive to the door, took a deep breath, and then pushed the door bell. The door swung open immediately to reveal none-other than Seto Kaiba.

Yami stared.

It _must_ be a sin for someone to look this good. It wasn't the clothes he wore that made him look drop dead gorgeous – although it did contribute to it. It was the way he wore the clothes, coupled with the confidence and control he exuded that made it hard for Yami to form coherent thoughts.

"What do you want, Yugi?" That snapped him out of whatever funk he'd fallen into.

"After all this time Kaiba, you still can't tell that it's me Yami and not my aibou."

Kaiba rolled his eyes, "Fine, _Yami_, what the hell do you want?" Just that response from Kaiba and he slipped easily into the confident persona of Kaiba's rival. He didn't have to worry about making a fool of himself because all of these reactions were so… instinctive, so automatic that he really didn't have to think about them anymore. But this time he didn't want to talk to Kaiba as his rival, he needed to talk to him as _Yami_.

"That's no way to treat a guest, Kaiba." _No!_ He needed to stop this or he'd have Kaiba so incensed that he'd never listen to what he needed to say.

Kaiba growled, "If you're just here to waste my time then you can get out. I'm a busy man _Yami_."

Yami took a deep breath in order to stop the automatic retort that was on the tip of his tongue. "I need to talk to you Kaiba."

"I gathered that. So, I reiterate, what the hell do you want?"

Yami crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him. "I'm not going to have a conversation with you on your doorstep, Kaiba."

He rolled his eyes, "Alright, come through to my office, we can talk in there." And with that he turned on his heel and made his way to his office, expecting Yami to follow behind him. A butler came to take Yami's coat and umbrella away and Yami followed Kaiba to his office.

xXx

"Right, so what is it that's so important that you came over here in this weather to tell me." He asked as he made his way over to his leather seat. He gestured with one hand for Yami to sit but Yami shook his head and instead started to agitatedly pace back and forth in Kaiba's spacious office.

"I've always admired you Kaiba. Even when we were rivals competing to be the best, I still admired you, even counted you as one of my friends." He dare chance a look at Kaiba, for far of losing his courage to say what he was about to next. "But lately I've begun to like you as more than a friend. What I'm trying to say is that…I love you Kaiba."

Silence.

So thick, so heavy, and filled with tension. It was all Yami could do not to scream.

"Say something." He whispered, knowing that he was about to have his heart crushed. He was prepared for any reaction, his body tense with the instinct to fight or flee. But he wasn't prepared for the reaction that Kaiba gave.

He laughed.

"What do you want me to say? Profess my 'undying' love for you and say that I've always loved you because I felt that 'special connection' from being your priest in Ancient Egypt? That even though we're rivals, we're also friends? That only we can understand each other?" He laughed again, a short bark of laughter that made Yami flinch. "That's pathetic. The only thing we'll ever be is rivals. I really don'tunderstand how someone as weak as you could be such a strong duellist. The only reason I would ever deign to associate with you is to win _my_ title back." He turned back to his laptop, completely dismissing Yami.

Each word was like poison to Yami. Eachderogatory statement was a knife in his heart. He flinched when Kaiba shouted for him to 'get out' when he was too shocked to even move. He scampered out of there quickly before the tears could fall, and raced through the front door, forgetting all about his coat and umbrella. It was still pouring outside and he was soaked in a matter of seconds.

'My day couldn't possibly get any worse.' He thought morosely to himself as he made his way down the drive. Suddenly a hand shot forth to clamp over his mouth as another snaked around his waist, dragging him backwards.

'It just did.' he thought to himself before a harsh blow caught him on the temple and he passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Loud voices were what dragged him to consciousness. That, and what felt like a sledgehammer trying to enter his head through his skull. Suffice to say, it _hurt_. He tried not to groan, knowing that if his kidnappers were willing to knock him out in order to capture him, he _really_ didn't want to draw attention to himself. He kept his breathing even, looking for intents and purposes to still be unconscious. When he was finally able to focus through the pain, he took note of the conversation going on overhead, trying to glean some information about his capture.

"What the fuck is this? I asked for you capture MO-KU-BA Kaiba. _This looks nothing like him_!" He recognised that voice. It sounded so familiar. Now if his head would stop pounding for a second and let him _think_ then he might be able to place it.

"Look right, you said he would be going out today, so I waited by the door and nabbed the first person that came out since I spied his brother in his office. I didn't notice that he wasn't the kid. He sure as hell is short like one." Even in dire circumstances like this, there was still time to make fun of his short stature.

"I'm _sure _you know what the shrimp looks like, everyone and their _uncle_ know who he is. So why in the _hell _didn't you notice that he had **_multicoloured hair_**!"

"_Look_, they're the only two people that live in that house; if one brother's in the office then the other had to be the one walking through the door. **_It's not my fault_**!" Oi, his head couldn't take anymore of this torture. If they would just reveal where he was and tell him who had captured him then he'd be on his merry little way. But _no_, instead they decided that theywanted to have a who-can-shout-the-loudest match.

"Only amateurs make that sort of mistake; you're _supposed_ to be the best on the business. Go on, get out; I'll do this myself since you're all so incompetent."

"What? I ain't leavin' till I get paid."

"You don't deserve to be paid. Now, _get out._"

"Hah, I ain't taking orders from a kid. Now just give me my money." There was a pause, and then Yami heard a click.

"You'd better leave here while you can still walk out of this place, before I end up making you leave in a body bag."

There was an audible gulp before he heard hurried footsteps and the door slamming loudly. His arms shuddered violently as they reflexively tried to rise to cradle his aching head that began to throb as the slam resonated in his ears, but he stopped them almost immediately.

Silence descended, so oppressing, so tense, that Yami was even afraid to breathe lest he disturbed it.

"You can stop pretending _Pharaoh_, I know you're awake and have been for the past five minutes." Now it was Yami's turn to gulp; only three people called him Pharaoh: one was a woman and this voice was definitely masculine so it eliminated her from the list; the other was a psycho living in Egypt so he wasn't a possibility; therefore that left the _other_ psycho who lived in Domino, as his captor.

He opened his eyes and sat up slowly on the bed, trying not to jar his head. "Tomb Robber! What the hell have you done now? Where the fuck am I?" he demanded, then winced when his raised voice caused his head to throb harder.

The thief shook his head, "You might as well go back to sleep Pharaoh, I don't have to explain anything to you." Yami tensed, ready to fight to get his information, but as he moved his head, it sent a huge wave of pain crashing over his senses, sending him into severe dizziness. Seeing as he was in no state to fight Bakura, he settled for glaring instead.

"Fine, but only because I can't think straight with this pounding in my head." He settled back comfortably on the bed and closed his eyes. "But when I wake up, I want some answers." A snort was his only reply.

xXx

Yami bolted upright in the bed, glancing blearily around the room. Not remembering the day's earlier events, he panicked when he felt the unfamiliar bed under his bodyand saw the unfamiliar darkness that shrouded the room. He closed his eyes and extended his senses, and he remembered with a shock what happened when his power brushed over the Thief's energy. He flopped back onto the bed with a groan.

"Why me? My day went from bad to worse."

He gasped, "And I haven't contacted Yugi. He'll be so worried. Oh I'm such an idiot."

"You finally woken up to the truth, huh Pharaoh?" A snide voice cut it.

"Oh shove it up your asshole, Tomb Robber."

"Sorry, no one shoves anything up my ass. I'm always seme." The Pharaoh glared at Bakura, even as a blush stole across the bridge of his nose at the innuendo-laden phrase.

"Just shut up. I'm trying to contact my hikari." His eyes closed in concentration.

_Yugi?__ Yugi? Yug–_

_Thank **god! **I was so worried when you never returned home, so I contacted Kaiba but he said that you'd left and that he didn't care where you'dgone so I'm guessing that Kaiba didn't take it well–_

_Yugi._

_–and it's so dark outside I didn't know where you were – and I still don't know where you are – and I couldn't contact you–_

_Yugi!_

_–and I was so scared because no one knew where you wereand I knew that you'd be upset–_

**_Yugi!_**

_Huh? _Yami sighed as he finally got his aibou's attention and rubbed at his temples to relieve the stress that Yugi's bombardment of questions had caused.

_Calm down aibou, I'm fine. Apart from a slight headache, I'm alright._

_Then where are you? Why haven't you come home yet? How–_

_Aibou, _he interrupted before Yugi could get going into his full rambling mode. _I'm with Bakura. I don't know why I'm here, but he hasn't hurt me at all. _Well that wasn't a lie; it was the other guy that had hit him on the head. _I'll be home later tonight or at the latest tomorrow morning. _He could feel Yugi's relief through the link and he smiled, even as he stopped conversing with him and turned his awareness back to reality.

He glared at Bakura.

"Alright, listen here Thief. I want to know where I am and why you are trying to kidnap Mokuba."

Bakura laughed, "Isn't it obvious Pharaoh? Take the kid and charge rich boy for ransom. Easy money." He grinned at Yami's look of disgust. "As for where you are…it's none of your fucking business." Yami growled again at Bakura's response, before clenching his fists to stop them lashing out at the paled-haired spirit. He took a deep breath.

"Fine, just take me home, or to somewhere where I can get back to Yugi from."

The smile dropped from the Tomb Robber's lips and his face closed off, piquing curiosity in Yami. "No way in _hell_, Pharaoh." Immediately the curiosity was replaced by the familiar anger that always seemed to overcome him when in Bakura's presence.

"Well why the fuck not!" There was an almost imperceptible pause before Bakura snarled out an answer.

"Because I don't feel like making the trek and a half across the city just to drop your sorry ass home, then making the trek and a half back. Now _drop it_." Normally Yami would've just chalked it up to Bakura's usual rudeness coupled with his vulgarity. But that imperceptible pause, that unnoticeable hesitation made him feel different. As he watched Bakura move toward the bed, sliding his t-shirt over his head and dropping the garment to the floor, Yami felt that something wasn't quite right.

No, he was sure of it.

Bakura had lied to him.

But why?

xXx

I was pushing to get this chapter and chapter two of my other story that is untitled as of yet, out at the same time. I didn't get them finished last week because I was otherwise preoccupied with exams everyday. So, sorry for the delay.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Yami slowly came to full awareness. His eyes fluttered opened and he let out a girlish scream as he came face to face with a Tomb Robber with a bloodthirsty grin. He lurched backward – a little too far – and landed on the floor with a _thud!_ Bakura nearly killed himself laughing, clutching his stomach as he lay on the bed laughing his ass off. He let out a sigh when he finally managed to wrestle his laughter under control and reduce it to a few chuckles that escaped every now and again.

"Was there any need for that?" Came a disgruntled voice from the vicinity of the floor.

"'Course there was; it was funny as hell! You scream like a girl, Pharaoh." Yami rolled his eyes in lieu of answering.

"Where's the bathroom? And do you have a change of clothes here?" he asked as he got up off the floor, changing the subject.

"It's through there and why do you need a change of clothes?" he said, staring pointedly at the clothes Yami was wearing. Yami rolled his eyes again.

"These clothes are filthy; they got soaked yesterday in the rain where they got dirty and they weren't cleaned. And it's so easy to stain leather. I can't wear these home." He crossed his arms over his chest in a stance that practically said I-just-dare-you-to-argue-against-me.

"Oh bloody hell. You sure you're not a girl?" Yami shot him a baleful glare which caused Bakura to grin. "And enlighten me as to _how_ you will be getting home."

"Oh don't act more stupid than you already are." Bakura snarled at that. "You're taking me home." Bakura laughed again.

"_I'm_ not taking you home. I don't know where you got the idea that I was. Now run along Pharaoh," he added with a smirk as he saw Yami open his mouth to argue, "I'm sure you're just itching to get out of those oh-so-dirty clothes." Yami just shot him a withering look before entering the bathroom, slamming the door harder than necessary behind him.

xXx

"Well Pharaoh, is there any hot water left?" Bakura sneered as Yami re-entered the room, steam billowing out behind him. Yami just shot him a glare and made his way over to the wardrobe in the corner of the room. He made sure the towel was securely around his waist before diving into the depths of the wardrobe, looking for some suitable clothing.

"You know, this childish behaviour isn't going to encourage me to take you home any sooner." Yami grew angry.

"_I'm_ acting childishly? You're the one who seems to get some perverse pleasure from refusing to take me home." Fully dressed now in jeans and a t-shirt (courtesy of Bakura), Yami rounded on Bakura, who was reclining on the bed like he didn't have an irritated Pharaoh that was finally losing his patience and his temper in front of him. "Why the fuck can't I go home!" Bakura's eyes widened – making him look remarkably like his hikari – in an 'I'm to innocent to do any wrong' look and pointed to himself as if to say, 'who, me?'.

"You can go home any time you want Pharaoh. I'm not stopping you." Yami didn't have to be looking at the Tomb Robber to know that he had a huge shit-eating grin on his face.

Yami felt like tearing his hair out. That, or strangling the Tomb Robber just to vent his frustrations. "Yes," he began, deceptively calm, "I could go home anytime I wanted…if I knew where the fuck I was! You'd think that someone who hates me as much as you claim to would be shoving me through the door in his haste to get rid of me."

All signs of joking disappeared from Bakura at that statement, and he became unusually solemn. "Yeah, you'd think that, wouldn't you?" Sensing he was on the verge of a breakthrough, Yami pressed forward, determined to get some answers out of the Tomb Robber.

"Why don't you want me to go home, Bakura?" He shocked himself with his use of Bakura's actual name but figured that it would get through to him much better than calling him 'Tomb Robber' would.

"Did you know that this is the first time we've been alone together since Duellist Kingdom?" he said, not answering the question. Yami laughed with forced humour, trying to diffuse the strange atmosphere that had descended on the situation.

"That's because everyone is scared that we'll destroy each other if we're left by ourselves." Bakura smiled at that, but it was so sad that Yami had to look away.

"This may sound really…strange Pharaoh, but I just wanted us to spend a little time together without us duelling in a shadow game with deadly stakes." Yami was officially confused now. If the Tomb Robber hated him then why would he want to spend time with him?

"I don't understand. Why would you want to spend time with me if you hate me?" Bakura fell back onto the bed and threw his arms over his eyes. He sighed before answering.

"I ask myself that sometimes. I hate you for what happened to my village…or at least I used to hate you. I'm still angry about what happened, don't get me wrong, but I just don't…hate..._you_ anymore." Wow, talk about revelations. Yami had no idea any of this was going on.

"What brought about this change? As far as I knew you hated me with a passion."

"Three years is a long time to think about things Pharaoh, and I realised that although I vowed revenge for what happened at Kuru Eruna, I can't kill the one person who authorised it, and killing his son won't do anything for me." Bakura smirked humourlessly. "That and I realised something else that prevented me from killing you."

A deep sense of foreboding hit Yami as Bakura said those words. He had a sinking feeling that he wouldn't like what that reason was, but morbid curiosity drove him to ask.

"So what else did you realise that stopped you from, well…trying to kill me?"

"I'm in love with you."

xXx

Yami blinked.

Then he blinked again.

He opened his mouth to say something – anything! – but all that managed to escape was a strangled squeak. He decided that shutting his mouth was the best option at that moment in time because he knew that all he would manage to do is make a fool out of himself. He collapsed on the bed next to Bakura.

"Well," he said after his heart had moved from clogging his throat to beating wildly in his chest. "What can I say?" He ran both hands through his hair roughly then dropped his head into them.

"Nothing," Came the somewhat subdued voice from Bakura. "I don't expect you to say anything." He smirked again. "I just thought that you might want to know."

"So, ah…when did you realise that you felt this way…about me?"

"Whenever we met up. We'd have arguments and fights but…I realised that I didn't mean the things I was saying." A scowl appeared on Bakura's face. "However I really knew that I…you know, when I felt jealous and angry whenever _Anzu_ threw herself at you." He finally turned to look at Yami and said accusingly, "And you let her."

Yami raised his hands in a defensive gesture. "Hey, it wasn't my fault; she had a crush on me and I didn't want to tell her to get off because I didn't want to hurt her feelings and–" he stopped himself mid sentence and glared at Bakura. "I don't have to explain myself to you, Tomb Robber." He crossed his arms and turned away from Bakura, so he missed the disappointment that flashed in Bakura's eyes.

"So what happens no–"

"Do you want some breakfast?" Bakura interrupted quietly.

Yami smiled, "Yeah that would be nice."

"Great, the kitchen's just through there. I'm sure you can find everything that you need." The smile dropped from Yami's face and he scowled at Bakura's next statement. "I like my eggs scrambled, thank you." Bakura put his arms behind his head and lay back on the bed, eyes closed. When he felt no movement coming from the vicinity of where Yami was, he opened one eye and glared. "Well, hop to it." Yami jumped to his feet, incensed.

"You must be joking; you can get it yourself you lazy son of a bitch." And with that he stormed off towards the kitchen, once again slamming the door behind him. It wasn't until he was looking in the fridge to find food for _himself_ (**not** Bakura) that he realised what Bakura had done. He managed to diffuse an awkward situation just by being his usual arrogant self. Yami laughed and shook his head. "Sneaky Tomb Robber."

xXx

After they finished eating breakfast, they put their dishes in the dishwasher (Yami _did_ end up making breakfast for the both of them but thoroughly regretted it now, and felt like throwing Bakura out of a plane without a parachute; anything to get that Ra damned smirk off his face.) they made their way back to the bedroom-slash-living room where they both collapsed on the bed.

"So what do you plan on doing now?" Yami found that since finding out that Bakura was in love with him (it still felt weird to say that in reference to himself) and that he didn't really hate him, he was a lot easier to talk to. Oh, he could still piss Yami off very easily, but they weren't constantly at each other's throat.

"Carrying on doing what I was doing before we got sidetracked with this; kidnap Mokuba."

"But _why_?"

"Hey, I ain't got anything against the kid; it's just that asshole of a brother he has that pisses me off. And besides, Kaiba's practically swimming in it; a few hundred thousand won't put him out."

"Why not just break into his house and steal the money in there, a-and besides, Mokuba will recognise you anyway."

"If I do that I won't get nearly as much as if I kidnapped his little brother. Oh and with a little help from the Ring, he won't remember a thing." Yami licked his lips in apprehension of what he was about to do. He knew he was going to regret this but…Mokuba was such a nice kid who'd gone through so much because of people who wanted to get to Kaiba and chose him as the way to do it. Besides, good people who do nothing are just as bad as the people causing the problems in the first place. He looked at Bakura.

"Um…how about if I…" he licked his lips again and dropped his head, unable to look Bakura in the eye and say what he wanted. "What if I pretended to be your boyfriend? Would that get you to leave Mokuba alone?"

There was silence.

Then, "Okay, if you _become_ my boyfriend, then I'll leave the Kaibas alone."

"Fine." At the grin on Bakura's face he got a terrible feeling in his stomach.

Why did he suddenly feel like he sold his soul to the devil?

xXx

Sorry this was so late but my mum (still very angry with her about this) cut off all internet access in my house just as the summer hols started, so there was nowhere for me to update. In my library, you have to be over 18 to use the computers so…I hope you'll all forgive me.

I can't believe I got so many reviews! 17 for the first 2 chapters, you guys are all amazing. You readers in the Yu Gi Oh fandom are all so very nice.

So, a cliff-hanger (sort of); I love ending my chapters on an ominous note. How will Yami last being boyfriend to the only person that has the unique ability to piss him off? What will he tell Yugi? How will he handle doing the things that boyfriends do? Like **_kissing_** (and everything that comes after –wink, wink-)! I'm havingwaaaaaaay toomuch fun writing this fic


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Right, so now that that's sorted, let's go." Yami glanced up at Bakura questioningly; shocked out of the silence they'd fallen into since his offer.

"Where're we going?" He asked, getting to his feet. Bakura grabbed his jacket that was lying at the foot of the bed and put it on. Yami, realising that he wasn't going to be answered at that moment in time, grabbed his own jacket from the back of the sofa and put it on. Wordlessly, Bakura opened the door and stepped through, Yami hurrying after him so as not to be left behind; he _still_ had no idea where the hell he was and he didn't want to get lost. He was surprised to find that the place he'd been staying for the past 24 hours was just a normal apartment. He followed Bakura down the stairs and out into the open air. He shot a sidelong glance to Bakura as he reached into his jacket pocket and removed a cigarette and a lighter. He placed the cigarette between his lips and ignited the lighter, one hand cupped around the flame as he lit up. Strangely enough he found the picture of Bakura smoking...well, hot.

He frowned and averted his gaze, disturbed at the turn his thoughts had taken. Wasn't he supposed to be in love with Kaiba? He mentally snorted. A fat lot of good that did him; Kaiba just about ripped out his heart after letting him humiliate himself and kicked him to the kerb(1). Beside, all he was doing was doing was admitting that Bakura was...hot, it's not like it was declaration of undying love.

"So, where're we going now?" he asked, finally getting his mind back on track. Bakura exhaled a trail of smoke before answering.

"We're going back to my – well actually Ryou's – house." Yami nodded, although Bakura wasn't even looking at him. He was lazily smoking his cigarette, his hand drifting between his mouth and his side, smoke slowly being exhaled.

"Right, I guess that since I'm your...boyfriend, I'll be staying with you now." He sighed, not noticing that Bakura had started looking at him when he'd started speaking, a sad expression on his face. But it was only there momentarily before the confidence; the arrogance that had always defined him had descended upon Bakura again. "So how are we getting there?" At that Bakura smirked and tugged Yami over to the parking lot. They stopped beside a motorbike, a proud look on Bakura's face. Yami looked incredulous.

"A motorbike." he said flatly, seemingly unable to comprehend at that moment.

"Yep."

"A motorbike."

"Yep."

"A _motor_bike."

"Yep." Bakura repeated, starting to get annoyed. Yami turned and looked at him.

"You're out of your freakin' mind. How did you manage get this anyway?" Bakura shot him a look.

"Right, right, stupid question." How could he forget that he was talking to the King of Thieves? "You know these things are dangerous, right?"

Bakura's smirk widened. "Why do you think I stole one? Huge adrenaline rush." He got on the bike and took one last drag of his cigarette and was about to put it out but he suddenly stopped. He offered it to Yami, who shook his head adamantly.

"You _do_ know those things can kill you, right?" Then he groaned and slapped himself on the forehead. Did he suddenly lose what he had left of his sanity in the last 10 minutes? Bakura let out a laugh which sent shivers down Yami's spine for some unknown reason and pointed to the seat behind him.

"Get on Pharaoh, and I promise not to let you die." He laughed again as Yami gingerly got on the bike behind Bakura, his hands resting lightly on Bakura's hips. "You might want to hold on a little tighter than that, Pharaoh." He called back as he started up the bike, revving the engine.

"Oh, and why is that?" Yami snapped, thinking that it was another one of Bakura's tricks.

"Alright," Bakura conceded, deciding to leave Yami to find out by himself. "But I warned you." And with that he took off, smirking when Yami yelped and plastered himself to Bakura's back, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist with his hands locked at the front.

xXx

"You did that on purpose."

"I most definitely did _not_. I warned you about it, Pharaoh, but you were too proud to listen. It's your own fault." No matter how much he wanted to, Yami couldn't refute that. So instead of making a fool out of himself (for about the 4th time that day), he just grumbled under his breath as he followed Bakura into his house. Bakura smirked as he heard the plethora of swear words, suggestions on how to copulate with himself, and interesting uses for spoons that didn't include eating. Who knew the Pharaoh had such a filthy mouth?

"Oh stop sulking and accept the fact that you were wrong." Yami glowered at him, since he most definitely did _not_ sulk, but gave up and admitted to himself that Bakura was right. He hung his coat up on the hooks behind the door next to Bakura's own jacket and took a seat on the sofa while Bakura went looking for his hikari.

"Bakura, I'm in the kitchen." Came a voice that got progressively louder as its owner neared the living room. "Who were you talk...ing...to...?" Ryou trailed off as saw Yami reclining on his sofa and Bakura standing nearby, _not_ trying to carve a chunk out of the Pharaoh with his trusty knife. He looked from his Bakura to Yami, and then back again. He blinked then broke out into a small secretive smile, one he shared with his yami.

"Hi, Yami how are you? What brings you here?" It was fascinating to watch the blush blossom on Yami's face, he who was usually so calm and collected. He turned to Bakura questioningly.

"Oh, he's my boyfriend now and will be staying here for a while." Ryou's smile got larger.

"That's great! I guess that now that you're staying here, you'll need to get some stuff from the game shop. Oh, and tell Yugi about what's going on, of course." A loud groan came from Yami and he ran a hand through his hair roughly.

"Crap, I completely forgot. I have to tell Yugi about…and he'll ask about...shit! Today's just not my day." Ryou watched bemused as Yami tried to bury his head under a cushion and suffocate himself. If Yami was now going out with his yami then why was he acting like he just dropped out of plane without a parachute? He knew Yugi could be a bit…well, Yugi but… Something didn't smell right.

"Umm…Yami, can you help me in the kitchen quickly while Bakura sorts out his bedroom?" Bakura opened his mouth to protest, thought better of it, and decided to use the link.

_What are you doing Ryou? _

_Don't worry, _he sent as Yami followed him into the kitchen. _I just want to talk to him. You know, find out how this came about._

_But...Fine._ And he stomped up the stairs, not too pleased about this development but unable to say anything because then it would create too much suspicion. Yami heaved himself off of the sofa and followed Ryou into the kitchen. As soon as he took one step into the kitchen, the door was shut and locked behind him and he came face to face with a solemn Ryou.

"Alright, tell me what's really going on." He demanded. Yami flinched and stared at his feet, unable to meet Ryou's eyes as he lied.

"Nothing. We just decided to give this boyfriend thing a go."

"Bullshit." That made Yami start, not used to hearing Ryou swear. "You don't go from hating someone to being their boyfriend unless you sat down and did some serious talking. Before you couldn't stand to be in the same room as Bakura, so what is going on?"

Yami sighed. "Fine. I agreed to become Bakura's boyfriend to stop him from trying to kidnap Mokuba."

Ryou frowned. "Okay, but how did you know that that would make Bakura leave Mokuba alone?"

Yami leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. "Bakura and I, we got to talking, and I found out that h-he was in love…with me." He _still_ couldn't say it without stuttering; it was just too weird for Yami. Ryou nodded; he knew how Bakura felt. Whenever they were cursing each other, Ryou could feel the half-heartedness behind Bakura's efforts. He'd confronted him and dragged the whole story out.

"But how did he manage to get you to sit down long enough to tell you? And how did it come up in the conversation in the first place?" Yami sighed and resigned himself to reliving that horrible experience with Kaiba, in order to explain what exactly was going on.

"I-I'm in love with Kaiba. Or was. I'm not even sure anymore."

_Oh, Bakura. _Ryou thought to himself, knowing it would really hurt his yami to have his love unrequited. He felt his yami come down the stairs quietly (a habit from being a thief) and told him to stay put. Even though this would hurt him, he needed to know, know exactly what he was letting himself in for.

"Anyway, Yugi finally convinced me that it was time to tell him, so yesterday morning I went down to his mansion and…told him. He laughed and threw it back in my face. Told me to get out; said I was pathetic." Yami refused to let himself cry, so when he felt his eyes start to burn, he swallowed hard and blinked rapidly to clear the tears, then carried on.

"I was understandably upset, so when I left the mansion, I wasn't really concentrating and I was knocked out and kidnapped. When I came to, I found out that it was a mistake and that Mokuba was the one that was supposed to taken. Bakura and I got into an argument and it came out that he was in l-love with me." He hugged his arms around himself defensively, feeling the emotional drain of having to relive that. Ryou wanted so badly to hug Yami, try to offer him some measure of comfort, but he wasn't sure on how it would be received. Ryou had seen Yami at his weakest, a state he was sure no one else had ever seen him in and he wasn't sure how Yami would react.

"No matter what the reason you're doing this, it won't work if you still hate him."

"I never hated Bakura. Sure we had arguments, but I was just defending myself from his hateful accusations. I have no reason to hate Bakura."

Ryou smiled sadly, "That's good to hear, because the one who has the most chance of getting hurt out of this relationship is Bakura." At that moment, Bakura entered the room, acting like he had just come down the stairs.

"Have you finished 'helping' Ryou, Yami? If so then come on, I'll give you a lift to the game shop." Yami groaned.

"Oh Ra, not again." He sighed and followed Bakura out of the kitchen and through the front door after grabbing his jacket. He turned to Ryou. "If I don't come back, tell Yugi that my last thoughts were of him." Ryou burst out laughing. He laughed even harder when Bakura rolled his eyes and dragged Yami out of the house by the back of his top.

"Stop being so melodramatic."

"Me? Being melodramatic? Bakura, you don't know the meaning of the words 'slow down'." Bakura grinned.

"Well make sure you hold on tight, then."

xXx

"Yugi? Are you here?" There was a stampede of footsteps coming down the stairs, and then Yugi appeared and flung himself at Yami in a fierce hug. Yami brought his arms up and held him close as Yugi let out a stream of fretful words. Yami stroked him on the back as he tried to calm his aibou down in order to answer questions and explain the present situation.

"I'm fine aibou, really I am." Yugi opened his mouth as if to say something, but then took one glance at the Tomb Robber behind them, who was leaning against the doorjamb and was smoking lazily. He decided to speak through the link instead.

_Are you sure you're alright? Bakura didn't do anything, right?_ Yami smiled in reassurance.

_He did nothing to me so stop worrying._

_But–_

"Yugi, how about we go upstairs?" he interrupted out loud. "I need to talk to you." He looked back at Bakura. "Erm…you can sit in the living room, Bakura. Just…finish your cigarette first; jii-chan wouldn't appreciate the smell." he told Bakura, who nodded his head in acknowledgement and went back to smoking. Yami then took Yugi upstairs into his bedroom and sat him on the bed, ready to explain everything.

"You already know that things didn't go…_well_ with Kaiba." Yugi smiled sadly.

"Sorry I pressured you into doing that. What exactly happened? I know that he didn't feel the same way from the phone call I made... but what happened?" Yami let out a sigh and prepared to relive the pain yet again.

"I told him and...he laughed and said I was pathetic. Said I was weak and not worth his time. I…Ra it _hurt_ so much. What does that say about me if I fell in love with someone like that? I don't even know if I'm still in love with him anymore, or if I was even in love with him in the first place. I'm just so confused." The last part came out in a whisper, and it hurt Yugi to hear his other sound like that. He reached out and hugged him, feeling so guilty for putting his yami up to it in the first place.

"It's not your fault, aibou. It was better for it to come out sooner rather than later." Yugi looked up shocked; he didn't realise that he had been emitting his remorse down the link. He changed the subject, trying to take Yami's mind off of his pain.

"So how did you end up with Bakura?" Yami sighed again.

"I was kidnapped; they thought I was Mokuba (although I'm still trying to figure out how they managed that). Bakura was going to hold him for ransom to try and get some money from Kaiba. We were arguing and it came out that he was in l-love" Dammit he still couldn't say it without stuttering! "With me and had been for some time. I offered to become his boyfriend so that he would leave Mokuba alone." Yugi's eyes got wide; he couldn't believe that a) Bakura was in love with his yami and b) they were actually now going out. He hugged Yami even tighter as if he was about to disappear from his grasp.

"So w-what happens now?" Yami ran his hand through Yugi's hair comfortingly as he spoke.

"I'm going to be staying with Bakura, I don't know how long for." Yugi's eyes widened; he couldn't believe that now his other half would be staying with Bakura. And he'd get all caught up in the new relationship and he won't have time to see him anymore and they'll grow further and further apart and…and…

"No matter what happens, Yugi, _nothing_ will keep us apart." Yami said, feeling the turn Yugi's thoughts had taken. "I'll still come by at least once a day, and during college we can keep in tough via the link. The only reason I agreed to stay with Bakura for the duration of this…relationship was that I figured that if I spend more time with him I might be able to see another side of him that might help make this more bearable." He gently untangled himself from his aibou to go and pack his things.

Once he'd packed sufficient amount of clothes as well as other thing he just couldn't be without for an extended amount of time, he made his way downstairs with Yugi trailing behind, dragging his feet like he just heard his dog had been run over by a truck. They entered the living room and found Bakura stretched out on the sofa with his eyes closed, looking for intents and purposes to be asleep.

"Hey Bakura," Yami said, not actually sure if Bakura was asleep or not. Bakura opened his eyes and got up off the sofa, stretching a bit before he turned to face Yami.

"What?"

"Could you do me a favour? Could you take this bag back to Ryou's please? I'm going to stay here with Yugi for a bit." Yugi's eyes lit up at that and a smile spread across his face. Bakura rolled his eyes but said yes anyway. He took the bag from Yami and made his way to the door. But before he left he turned to Yami and said,

"Make sure you're ready by 9 tonight."

"Why?" Yami asked, puzzled. Bakura smirked, knowing he was going to enjoy what he was saying next.

"Because we're going on a date."

xXx

(1) Every time I use this word in fanfiction Iget grief for spelling it wrongly. However this is the British spelling for this word and I do live in England. Just wanted to clear that up.


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